Syria: ICRC & Syrian Arab Red Crescent in Moaddamiyeh with aid
Last night (3 February), as darkness fell, the ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) crossed the checkpoints and the buffer zone to enter the besieged town of Moaadamiyeh to give aid to tens of thousands of people in desperate need.
Thousands of people had waited for hours on the edge of the buffer-zone separating warring parties before the deliveries could start. The 12 truck convoy carried food and hygiene items sufficient for more than 12,000 people for three weeks and medical supplies to local health facilities sufficient for 10,000 patients for three months.
Marianne Gasser, head of ICRC delegation, Syria stated: “We delivered aid: food parcels, hygiene kits and medical supplies to families in Moaddamiyeh and medical supplies to the health facility in Moaddamiyeh. We also could speak to the civilian population - a lot of women, a lot of children. They desperately need additional supplies and we have already loaded food parcels and hygiene kits to bring in tomorrow morning.”
Gasser emphasised: “It is very important that we come back, that we deliver aid on a regular basis.”
The needs of an estimated 50,000 people in Moadamiyeh are far greater than what the ICRC and SARC were allowed to deliver. “I spoke to several women who were with their children,” said Gasser. “What they asked for most is baby milk for their babies and they are lacking also bread and food.”
“The fact that we could access Moaddamiyeh today is a very positive development and we received all the necessary facilitation but this should not stop here. We need to come back because of the big humanitarian needs. And we really hope to come back on a regular basis.”
The two organisations are expecting to bring more aid to these people in coming days.
In addition to Moadamiyeh, in Al Tal, an area difficult to access in Rural Damascus, ICRC also delivered food and hygiene kits through SARC (on 2nd February). The supplies included food for 17,500 people, hygiene kits for 3500 families and 25 metric tons of other food items meant for the collective kitchen which provides cooked food to 6,000 people per day.
Discussions are also ongoing to bring relief to besieged Madaya in Rural Damascus and Foua and Kafraya in Idleb governorate. The ICRC has repeatedly called for continued and unimpeded access to these and other besieged areas and for all sieges to be lifted.
Photos:
Captions embedded in photo "file information".
Please credit Pawel Krzysiek/ICRC
Video One Shotlist
Location: Moaddamiyeh, Syria
Length: 4:03
Format: H264-Mov (1920x1080p50)
Production: ICRC delegate Krzysiek
Sound: English/Arabic
ICRC ref: AV430N2
Date: 3/2/2016
Copyright: ICRC access all
SOUNDBITE Salam (in Arabic)
0:00 "My name is Salam, I'm 14 years old with kidney failure. We are not allowed to live out our childhood. We have no sweets to eat and nothing to keep us warm. Why are they doing this to us? We want the roads to be open again, our house is fully destroyed."
ICRC delegate: how is your daily life going? What are you doing?
"We try to be positive, but it's not possible. We are not allowed to be children, it's not fair that some live safely and others cannot. We need the roads to open again, there is nothing to be done in the school, and there is not point of studying."
ICRC delegate: if you want to deliver a message to the world what would you say?
"We ask the world to help us open the roads"
SOUNDBITE Um Ahmad (in Arabic)
1:22 "There is no source of heating, no firewood, my children and I on the street all day to warm up in the sun, my daughter 7 years old went and back to school in this cold weather, we just need anything to feel warm, anything you can provide."
ICRC delegate: what is the important need for your children?
"My son needs milk, he can’t live without it. We need milk and some sweets, and that’s it."
ICRC delegate: if you want to deliver a message to the world what would you say?
"We just need peace, we want our country back like it used to be, and most importantly to remain in our homes."
SOUNDBITE Um Khaled (in Arabic)
2:51 "We want peace and safety for our children. We want to live. We don’t want war. We wish to ask both sides to reach an agreement, as the children, women and all the civilians are the ones paying the price of the conflict, the women and all the civilians, we don’t want to leave our country. We want to stay here but we need help, fuel, we don’t want to leave the country. Where would we go?"
SOUNDBITE Um Majed’s Interview (in Arabic)
3:22 We don’t have a life here. We are suffering to the level that we wish to die, there is no food, no water, nothing at all, there is no fuel, we don’t even have firewood. One day I put some spices to the water and feed my kids, there is no medicine, no food, no water, I swear to God that we don’t have any piece of bread for 30 days. Yesterday my son was crying because he was hungry, he wants to eat but there is no food, no biscuits so thank you
4:03 END
Video Two Shotlist
Location: Moaddamiyeh, Syria
Length: 9:15
Format: H264-Mov (1920x1080p50)
Production: Pawel Krzysiek
Sound: English/Arabic
ICRC ref: AV430N
Date: 3/2/2016
Copyright: ICRC access all
0:00 crowds gathering on the buffer zones waiting for the ICRC-SARC to enter
1:39 little girl
1:56 SARC vehicles
SOUNDBITE: Marianne Gasser, head of ICRC delegation, Syria (in English)
3:29 “It is after nine o'clock in the evening and an ICRC team and a team of the ICRC Syrian Arab Red Crescent are still inside Moaddamiyeh. It took some time to access the besieged town however we managed and we got all the facilitation to be able to access the besieged town of Moaddamiyeh. Today we delivered aid: food parcels, hygiene kits and medical supplies to the families in Moaddamiyeh, Medical supplies to the health facility in Moaddamiyeh. We also could speak to the civilian population - a lot of women, a lot of children. They desperately need additional supplies and we have already loaded food parcels and hygiene kits to bring in tomorrow morning. When we entered Moaddamiyeh, there is a buffer zone, so we saw that thousands of people were queueing, mainly a lot of women. And therefore it is very important that we come back, that we deliver aid on a regular basis and that we have already the approval to come back tomorrow with additional food parcels and hygiene kits. It is very important for the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to be able to access the area to bring in humanitarian aid because there are a lot of needs and we spoke to the women and they were asking us for additional food."
5:29 "I spoke to several women who were with their children, small children, babies. What they asked for most is baby milk for their babies and they are lacking also bread and food and especially also medicine for children. For the women even if the whole family is in need of a lot of humanitarian aid, the women, what they really ask for is for their children and baby milk."
5:48 "The fact that we could access Moaddamiyeh today is a very positive development and we received all the necessary facilitation but this should not stop here. We need to come back because of the big humanitarian needs. And we really hope to comeback on a regular basis."
6:23 People waiting
6:51 people receiving food aid and hygiene kits
7:39 SARC & ICRC waiting to go in
8:10 People receiving aid
9:15 END
